With regard to your article about the old North Stand atmosphere at the Goldstone Ground (The Argus, November 8), I don't think too many people would disagree that this is sadly lacking at Withdean.

In your article you identify cost and convenience of buying tickets as key elements. I agree, however, I would take this a stage further.

In the old days, you could decide at the last minute to go to the football and as a group or individual choose where you stood in the stand.

If you turned up late you could squeeze in and make your way to where your mates were standing.

Standing with your mates always made for a better atmosphere.

These days, unless you are very organised about buying groups of tickets for friends, or you all buy season tickets and are grouped together, you are unlikely to be sitting next to your mates when you get to the ground.

I think this goes a long way to explaining why the atmosphere is so much better at away games. In my experience, at away games, people tend to ignore the seat allocation and sit with the mates they have travelled with.

Could I suggest that at Falmer perhaps one stand could be used for this purpose. You buy a ticket but no seat is specified, giving people the opportunity to turn up early and sit with their friends.

Unfortunately, with all seater stadiums and today's health and safety laws, the youth of today won't be able experience the rush of piling down the terraces that normally greeted a goal by Ward or Byrne, but let's make sure they can at least celebrate with their mates.

  • Paul Nunn, The Driftway Upper Beeding

With regard to the feature following Jake Robinson's reported dismay at the lack of fans at Withdean, I would suggest one factor is the number of up and coming non-league teams in the county.

Crawley, Lewes and Eastbourne Borough are all doing well compared to the days when the Albion played at the Goldstone Ground. Attending their matches is at a fraction of the cost of a ticket at Withdean.

To take a child to a game at Withdean will cost me £50 plus. I hear tickets for the recent Uefa Cup match against Nuremberg cost Everton supporters 20 euros (about £15).

I appreciate the well publicised financial difficulties of the Albion and the efforts of Dick Knight and others but doesn't that story from Nuremberg highlight what is wrong here.

Mr Knight is on the right track working to a tight budget.

They say any publicity is good publicity, so good luck. But it won't change the fact that my budget shall not allow me to attend in the near future.

  • Ray Savage, Ardingly Drive Worthing

There has been considerable comment recently regarding the price of tickets at Withdean and whether high prices are a reason for the poor gates.

It would be interesting to see a comparison between the price of a ticket to watch the Albion today and, say, a pint of beer, gallon of petrol, hourly wage, and compare this to the same items in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

It would help us to establish whether ticket prices are high and whether this is possibly a real and genuine reason for the fall in attendances.

  • Rohan Alce, Jeremys Lane, Bolney